PlayStation 4 Zero Escape: Zero Time Dilemma

Zero Time Dilemma comes to PlayStation 4

The Zero Escape series combines suspenseful adventure with escape-room puzzles. Nine characters trapped in a facility by the mysterious Zero are forced into a game involving humanity’s survival.

Its unpredictable developments incorporate science, thought experiments, occult elements, philosophical questions and psychological warfare, earning acclaim in Japan and abroad.

December 31, 2028: the Nevada desert

It is the sixth day since communal life began at the experimental facility Dcom. That morning, nine men and women wake up inside a confinement room.

Unfamiliar black bracelets—bangles—are attached to their left wrists. A masked figure appears and announces the start of the Decision Game: a game with the survival of the participants, Zero and humanity at stake.

The nine are then moved into an underground shelter and separated among three areas: C, Q and D. Which team will survive? The future of all humanity—eight billion people—rests on their decisions.

Enhanced graphics on PS4

The PlayStation 4 edition strengthens the graphics with improved image quality and a comprehensive revision of the lighting, providing visuals with more pronounced contrast from scene to scene.

The first and second series entries, Nine Hours, Nine Persons, Nine Doors and Virtue’s Last Reward, were also released separately together as Zero Escape: The Nonary Games for PS4 and PS Vita. This made all three series games available on PS4; this listing is for Zero Time Dilemma.

The Decision Game

Zero confines the nine characters in a nuclear shelter and forces them into a Decision Game with humanity’s existence at stake.

The three teams are isolated in areas they cannot travel between. Within their own area, they can act freely, but each period of activity is limited to 90 minutes.

When 90 minutes pass, the bangles inject an anesthetic and a memory-erasing drug. The participants fall into a deep sleep and forget everything that occurred during that period.

When they next wake up, they must begin another 90 minutes of activity without knowing what happened to them or understanding their current situation.

Each 90-minute period forms one story fragment. Like the characters who lose their memories after every period of activity, the player advances without knowing where the current fragment falls within the story’s overall chronology.

The Floating Fragment System

Unlike a game progressing in chronological order, the Floating Fragment System lets you choose the next story to play from multiple fragments whose positions in time are unknown.

Fragments are provided for each of teams C, Q and D. Switch teams freely at any time and play the fragments in any order you wish.

Each fragment is a self-contained episode covering one 90-minute period of activity, allowing the story to be enjoyed whichever fragment you begin with.

Quest sections

Explore the shelter’s different facilities and rooms, solving the puzzles placed within them. The game provides a wealth of distinctive, original challenges with satisfying difficulty even for experienced escape-game players.

Whenever you give an incorrect answer, team members offer advice. This makes the game accessible to escape-game beginners and players less confident with puzzles, allowing each player to experience an appropriate level of difficulty.

Decision sections

As the game progresses, you face unavoidable decisions. These Decision sections arise in many situations, including Zero’s unreasonable rules, arguments with teammates and deducing the culprit behind an incident.

Each presents an ultimate choice that greatly affects the course of the game. Many cannot simply be divided into right and wrong answers.

Even without knowing which choice is correct, you must still decide.